A Gift of Heart
by lovesickjily
Summary: James and Lily exchange Christmas gifts. Banter ensues, and a surprise is in for Lily. James doesn't seem to help the situation.


Nature never failed to amaze Lily.

She traced her fingers on the frost that had accumulated on the outside of the window. Her lips curled up into a smile as she watched little flakes of snow fall onto the large blanket of snow on the ground. She loved the snow; the sight made her feel so much joy as it brought forth the many memories she had made.

The house would have been completely silent had it not been for the rustling of the fire that James had forgotten to put out the night before. Lily didn't see the point in putting it out, because as much as she loved the cold, she much more preferred being warm. James would be down soon anyway.

"Good morning, love," he said, his voice containing evidence of morning sleep. He gave her a peck on the lips and sat down beside her. "There a reason why you're up so early?"

"It's Christmas, James," Lily pointed out, snuggling against his warm body. His arm immediately wrapped itself around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "And besides," she pointed out, looking up at him. "You're up early as well."

"Mm, but that's because I look forward everyday to seeing you."

"Smooth."

"But you know," he shifted. "I also look forward to us opening presents today."

"My gift for you is amazing. I very much doubt you could get me something better than I did you."

"Did me? Lily Evans, you minx." She slapped his stomach lightly, and his laughter bubbled out in response. "Come on, Lils. We've established that part of our relationship months ago."

"Prat. You know what I meant."

"You love it."

"Actually, I'm only using you for your body."

"'Honestly, I'd do the same. I'm hot as hell."

"Damn right you are," she agreed, feeling the smirk forming on his face. She quickly changed the subject. "Banter won't open our presents."

"Banter is an essential part of our relationship."

"I hope you know you're opening my gift first," Lily said.

"Saving the best for last, I see."

"It's more along the lines of wanting to see my boyfriend happy because of something I got him as I favor his happiness."

"Lily, just being in your presence makes me happy. A present would just make me happier." Lily felt her heart flutter at his words. She hummed in contention. She watched him stand up and walk towards their Christmas tree, picking up the gift clearly labeled "To J, From L."

He sat back down next to Lily, who put her head on his shoulder. He put the present against his ear and shook it. He looked at her in amusement. "Don't tell me you got me a _book_ for Christmas."

"You know I'm not evil enough to do that to you." James tore the wrapping paper off, and he looked at her accusingly when he saw that it was a journal, which was similar to a book. Noticing the look on his face, she said "Open it."

James listened to her command, and in the journal were pictures of them, each page containing a personal note of some sort. James felt a surge of affection towards the redhead beside him, who had lifted her head off of his shoulder to closely study his reaction. He softly tucked the strand of hair falling in front of her face behind her ear.

"I take it you like it," she said softly, and he quickly mumbled "I love it. I love _you_ " before pressing his lips to hers.

They pulled away some time later, James relishing the taste of her lips. "I suppose it's time for you to open your gift, now."

"I hope it's a puppy," Lily said jokingly. The corner of James's lips curled up in amusement, and he shook his head.

"I think it's better than a puppy."

"Hmm. Must be one hell of a gift," Lily replied, getting up to grab the large box under the tree.

Lily slowly removed the festive wrapping paper from the gift, a quality that would have tested the patience of those watching the gift exchange, but James thought it was adorable that she was keeping the paper solely because she thought it was pretty.

Upon opening the box Lily saw that there was _another_ box inside of the first box. Lily stared up at him in exasperation, but James just looked back at her innocently.

"Go on," he motioned.

And when Lily unwrapped this box, there was yet again _another box_ in the box. She would have given up on opening this present if he didn't look so excited to seeing finding a box within a box.

The process continued for about six more boxes, each progressively getting smaller and smaller as Lily went on. It didn't help that Lily was taking more time than necessary to remove the paper neatly.

After the sixth box, Lily pulled out a red gift bag with white Christmas patterns. She sighed in relief, finally thinking that this was the end of James's shenanigans, but then she made a feeble attempt at throwing the tissue paper at James when she saw that there was— surprise— another box in the bag.

"No need to get violent," he laughed, his eyes crinkling in the corners.

"No need for my boyfriend to be such a pompous berk," she shot back, her hands carefully folding the piece of wrapping paper that would soon join the accumulating stack of paper.

"Now Lily, is that really how you treat the love of your life after getting so much wrapping paper and boxes from him?"

"I think opening all these boxes shows how much I'm willing to put up with you," Lily rebutted, groaning when she saw that there was another box in the box. "How did you get such small boxes?"

"I think you're forgetting that magic exists, love."

"Oh my mistake. Seven years at a wizarding school really put a damper on my memory. Who are you again?"

"I can see how you'd forget that magic exists, but me? I am shocked, Evans. To forget someone as insanely good-looking as I am is catastrophic."

"Maybe I don't find you attractive with that huge ego of yours."

"You and I both know that's a damn lie."

Lily paused in opening the box to raise an eyebrow at him. "Oh? And how do you know that?"

"You're dating me for a reason. Obviously you're in for my vast inheritance."

"Vast inheritance of boxes, maybe."

"Yes, because clearly you're enjoying all of this," James joked, his hands motioning towards the large mess created by the boxes and paper.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," she said with an eye roll.

"Well, you do have spectacular company."

"Are you sure about that? We're the only two people in this house."

"You think you're clever."

"I _know_ I'm clever," Lily corrected him. Seeing how small the next box she opened was, she added on. "You can't possibly have anything but the actual gift in here. The box fits in the palm of my hand."

Lily saw a flicker of amusement on James's face, but he quickly covered it with nonchalance. She eyed him in suspicion, but his expression remained the same.

And she should have known. When her hand reached into the box, she pulled out a box the same size as the very first box she had opened.

She really should have known. James doubled over with mirth at her reaction to the unpleasant twist. She threw the box at James in an angry huff, who had easily caught it thanks to his Quidditch abilities.

"Undetectable Extension Charm. What a classic," James had managed to let out once he had calmed down.

"Don't tell me I have to do all of this _again_ ," Lily said warily.

James's eyes practically sparkled. "Nah. There was something else in the little box."

Lily quickly put her hand back into the small box and pulled out a small envelope. "There better not be a box in here."

"I can't believe you'd think I'd do such a thing."

She rolled her eyes at him. But she opened up the envelope, and inside was a note that simply said "Turn around." She stared at the message in confusion, thinking that all of her time spent on opening boxes and removing wrapping paper was all for a strange note. She listened to what it said anyway, and all of her feelings of defeat and confusion were thrown out the window at the sight before her.

There was James on one knee, his hand holding out a small velvet box with a stunning silver ring with an intricate crest. She felt her mouth opening in shock, which she quickly covered with her hands as she had a feeling she knew what James was planning to do.

"Lily Jane Evans," he began, looking up at her earnestly. "There aren't enough words in the dictionary to show you how much I love you, and even if there are, I wouldn't know how to string them together to exactly get my message across. But I do know that you complete me. Who else would willingly put up with my shenanigans? Whenever I go to sleep with you beside me, I thank the world that I get to wake up to the sight of you beside me. With you by my side, I feel that _anything_ is possible. You give me confidence in everything in this world. You, Lily Evans, are the light in this shite world. I have a lot more to say about how amazing you are, but my mind turned blank because I keep thinking back to the boxes. So Lily, will you marry me?"

Lily felt tears streaming down her face, and her heart surged with affection at the sight and words of the man kneeling before her, his eyes filled with hope and pure love for me. She quickly wiped the tears from her face and answered him. "I want to say no solely out of spite for what you put me through in the past twenty minutes, but I love you too much to do that. James Fleamont Potter, I will marry you."

James let out a merry laugh and slid the ring onto her finger and stood up. He softly cupped her cheeks and pressed his lips against hers. He felt her immediately ease into the kiss, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. His fingers glided down to her waist and pulled her body closer to him.

And when they pulled away, James pressed a kiss on her nose and held her in his arms. He knew she felt at home in his embrace as he did in her presence.

"I can't stand the sight of boxes anymore. Please don't ever play with my emotions like that ever again," she threatened him, her words somewhat incomprehensible, as her face was snuggled in the crook of his neck. She felt his laughter vibrate throughout his body.

"Will do, love."

"Your present was also better than mine by a landslide," she added hesitantly.

"I would hope that getting married to me would be the best gift ever." Lily hummed in agreement, and they stayed in the comfortable silence as the fire crackled softly in the background.


End file.
